Computer systems are becoming increasingly pervasive in our society, including everything from small handheld electronic devices, such as personal data assistants and cellular phones, to application-specific electronic devices, such as set-top boxes, digital cameras, and other consumer electronics, to medium-sized mobile systems such as notebook, sub-notebook, and tablet computers, to desktop systems, workstations, and servers. A cell phone is a particularly useful computer system that provides a convenient way not only for users to be contacted but also for users to contact others.
Many cell phone users pay for a voicemail service. Under this service, an incoming call to a cell phone that is not picked up by the cell phone owner is rerouted to a voicemail system. The caller may then leave a message for the cell phone owner in the voicemail system. The message may then be subsequently retrieved by the user when the user calls the voicemail service.
Aside from the cost, there are numerous drawbacks to this type of voicemail system. For example, one drawback is that the cell phone owner may be unable to retrieve messages from the system when communication via the cell phone is hindered by, for example, a lack of nearby cellular antennas or heavy cellular traffic. Another drawback is the lack of security associated with a remotely accessed voicemail system. The present invention addresses this and other problems associated with the prior art.